Fair Weather
by Rainbow.hoshi
Summary: Fairy Tail has been thrown into a wild battleground, Makarov is searching for an answer, Lucy is fighting together with her guild members, Gray is on the brink of death and Natsu is just desperately trying to save his friend!
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I dont own Fairy Tail,

Hope you like reading my natsuXgray story, i really enjoy writing with the two of them, they make it fun :D

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The sun blazed hotter than normal, even for a summer day. Wiping his forehead and sighing, Gray made his way to Fairy Tail. It was a very odd morning. Somehow he knew it was only going to get worse.

At the guild, not even the cool glass of water Mira offered Gray could keep the heat from leaching his body of energy. He used his magic to freeze the water and slowly broke off pieces and let them melt in his mouth, the freezing water running down his throat. He sighed again and placed his head on the cool surface of the bar bench.

"Something on your mind, Gray?"

With his eyes closed Gray hadn't noticed the waitress mage standing behind the bar where he was sitting now. He glanced up at her briefly before laying back down. She poured him another glass of cold water and sighed almost sympathetically for him. Being an ice mage wasn't the best thing in hot weather. Especially when you're an ice mage like Gray, who coincidentally grew up in a freezing cold, snowy environment.

There was a soft breeze blowing through the guild as the doors opened and closed while people were making their way out to complete missions. Mira glanced concernedly at Gray before moving on to serve other members of the guild who were in need of cold beverages.

At some point during the morning, with his head on the bench, Gray must have drifted off into a weary sleep. His body was hot. There was no other way to explain it, unless you used the cliché saying 'on fire'. But now, with a fire mage who could actually set you on fire, that saying has only been used for something more literal.

"GRAY!"

With a small jerk Gray's head snapped up and he knocked his now warm water off the bench and smashing onto the stone floor. Shards of glass were sprayed outward from where the cup made contact with the ground. He cursed silently at the face Mira would pull when she saw the mess he made.

Natsu was standing in the open doors facing the entire guild with a face that screamed adventure. His eyes were lit up with excitement and his smile reached his ears.

Gray groaned and turned back to Mira for more water. Mira obligingly handed him another glass which he instantly froze. Natsu grew quickly irritated at Gray's attitude.

"What's with you today, Gray?" He made his way over to where the ice mage sat lying over the bar; he looked more like a wilted leaf than anything else. He sat beside him and waited for a response that never came. Sighing he turned to Mira.

"Have you seen Lucy today? I've got something to ask her," he grinned as he held up a request.

Mira leaned in to read the piece of paper Natsu held before smiling herself and shrugging. "Sorry Natsu, she hasn't been here all morning," she paused as Natsu's face fell before quickly adding, "But don't worry, I'm sure she'll show up very soon. Would you like a nice cool drink while you wait for her?"

Natsu nodded and accepted the cool beverage before turning back to his wilted friend. He regarded Gray for a moment before coming to a decision. A slow smile made its way back onto his face and he poked Gray's arm, "Hey, sleepy head! You wanna come on a mission with me and Lucy?"

Although nothing that morning had stirred Gray, nor anyone dared to disturb him, he glared at Natsu with dark eyes. "What did you call me, punk?"

Natsu's eyes gleamed at his feisty friends' response. Despite the fact that he is depleted from the heat Gray was still just as capable as anyone else to argue.

Before they two trouble makers could really start fighting however, they were distracted when a familiar blonde friend of theirs walked into the guild. She wore a pale blue mini skirt and a matching yellow trimmed singlet top. She stretched as she walked lazily over to the two boys and yawned.

"Morning, great hot day isn't it? Perfect beach weather!" she said happily as a grin spread across her face at an idea forming in her head involving the beach.

Natsu scoffed, "hah, try saying that to Gray! He's done nothing but mope around all morning."

Lucy glanced at Gray who was shoving chunks of ice into his mouth with his eyes closed and leaning against the bench. "I guess hot weather doesn't really suit you, huh Gray?"

Before forgetting his original plan Natsu shoved the request sheet into Lucy's face. "Come with me Lucy, will you?"

Lucy stepped back from the sheet and read the first few words before letting a small giggle escape her lips, "No way! Natsu, you can't seriously think you and me can handle something like this alone do you? It's impossible!"

Natsu frowned, "That's why I asked Gray to come," he turned to address the ice mage, "Lucy won't be able to do it without your help Gray!"

Gray noted the fact that Natsu said _Lucy _wouldn't be able instead of the both of them. He smiled to himself and gave in; he couldn't let Lucy go alone with this fire breathing monster.

"Ok, fine I'll come."

Natsu jumped up from his seat and punched the air with his fists, "alright, let's GO!"

Lucy smile despite herself at Natsu's enthusiasm and joined him towards the guild door. Gray gulped down the rest of his drink before rushing after them.

"Oh yeah, Natsu. What is the request?" Gray asked, realising he just accepted something without knowing what he was getting himself into.

Natsu just grinned, "You'll see!"

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Hope you liked it! please review!


	2. Chapter 2

The second chapter, please enjoy it :D

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When Gray thought he was hot, it was nothing compared to the moment when he left the interior of the guild. The sun hit him so ferociously that beads of sweat were already forming on his brow and he was panting in exhaustion.

Natsu curiously glanced at his comrade. In all his time at the guild he had never seen a more vulnerable Gray. Watching the ice mage squint down the street they were on and wave a hand in his face to cool himself down hammered Natsu with guilt. Although strong and mightily capable, Natsu started having second thoughts about taking _this_ Gray with him. He seemed so defenceless that Natsu would just consider him as luggage, which he already had plenty of thanks to Lucy.

Although he was genuinely concerned for his friend, Natsu didn't want Gray to know he cared about him. He knew that somehow it would give the ice mage some sort of satisfaction. And as Gray's rival, there was no way in hell he would give him that satisfaction.

After these few thoughts were cleared in Natsu's mind they made their way to Magnolia station. It was when they reached the station that trouble really began.

"NOOOOO!" Natsu started his usual routine of struggling to not get on the train. "I can walk, damn it! Let me go! We're walking!"

Gray, already irritated grabbed the fire mage by his collar and literally dragged him onto the train. Lucy quietly looked around her to see if her friends little display had attracted any embarrassing attention before silently slipping onto the train after them.

Natsu took a seat next to a window and instantly began turning white, Lucy sat opposite him and Gray next to her.

Silence stretched between the three of them until it became slightly awkward.

Gray was slouching in the seat, he blew cold air onto his hands and had his eyes closed. Lucy was a perky as ever, her bright brown eyes scanning the serene hillsides rolling past the train.

"Lucy, where are we going?"

Gray, who only came because of the young stellar mage, posed the question that was his number one concern at the moment. He glanced outside for one moment before re-closing his eyes.

Lucy regarded him before answering, "Well, Gray. I…uh…Natsu really wanted you to come. So well…don't get angry when you hear where, uh…"

"Get to the point already," he snapped, a frown creasing his forehead.

Natsu, who was totally out of it by this point, peeked up at the two of them waiting for the ice mages response that was sure to come.

Lucy gulped; she risked a fleeting look at Natsu before addressing Gray, "Balsador."

Gray's blank expression told her everything she needed to know. He didn't have a clue as to where Balsador was. The tips of her mouth curved in a smile at his ignorance. It made her feel smarter that her friend didn't know something she did.

"It's a desert country some miles away."

Everything happened so fast that Lucy only had time to blink once before the scene around her changed to a relatively violent one. As soon as the word 'desert' escaped Lucy's lips Gray had jumped out of his seat and made for his only exit, the window. However, as if expecting this, the sick mage had leaped onto Gray and pinned him to the floor of the train. Natsu was now sitting on the others back holding his own mouth closed and looking just a sick and dazed as ever.

Lucy felt so sympathetic for the two boys right now. Natsu really couldn't deal with transportation and became violently sick whenever he did use a vehicle, and Gray was already suffering enough from the unusual heat that had swept over this part of the world that she didn't even want to know how he would deal spending the next few days, or even weeks, in the desert.

Grunting, Gray pushed Natsu off him and sat back on his seat. He folded his arms and, in Lucy's opinion, sulked for the rest of the trip. When Lucy suggested that this was what he was doing though, he took on a real offended look and said there was no way a man like him would sulk.

It was silently agreed between the three of them that the mission would be completely discussed once they reached Balsador.

The rest of the trip followed in silence.

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Thanks for the reviews for my last chapter, sorry this one is really short, (got so many thoughts running through my head) please review this one and give suggestions for somthing interesting to involve :D


	3. Chapter 3

YAY! another chapter done, not too interesting yet but just wait,

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Calling it a desert country was almost an overstatement. Balsador was, if anything, red dirt, a small collection of wooden houses surrounding a town square and a large paddock with some strange animals behind what looked like the town hall. The three mages made their way to the middle of the small town. The houses all seemed lifeless. There wasn't any movement behind the rotten and old curtains used in the doorways, and not one person was walking along the streets.

The ground was so hot that it burned the mages' feet even through their shoes. This and the dust invaded air was probably the reason everyone was indoors.

"Um…is anyone here?" Lucy shouted down the wide path that led to the town's center.

Her voice echoed through the small town and slowly faded with no reply. The three reached the middle of the town and stood back to back waiting.

An awkward silence stretched on for what seemed like ages, it was only broken when finally a human figure approached the group.

The man's back was hunched and cloaked with a long dusty red sheet that might have once been white but was stained because of the dirty air. His feet were bare and heavily calloused which prevented severe burns from the sun heated ground. There seemed to be more hair in his beard than on his head, for it swept long enough to reach the floor but was now rolled up to his chin with a long stick keeping it in place. What hair did cover his head was white and wispy.

"Welcome to our home of Balsador. Might you be the Fairy Tail mages that we requested?" despite his appearance his voice was very strong and deep with an air of authority in it which signified him as the village chief.

The mages shared a glance before introducing themselves to the elder before them.

"Yes, we are from Fairy Tail. My name is Lucy," she indicated herself. "And this is Natsu and Gray," she pointed to them in turn.

"Welcome again, I am the village elder, Mahtoo," the old man replied. "We have been expecting you for some time now. Thank you muchly for making time to help our village. We are in desperate times now and any form of help is much appreciated."

He made a slight bow, Gray didn't really notice because his back was so hunched, and waved a hand in front of him, "if you'll follow me please, I'll lead you to our guest house."

He led the way; his strides were long and precise. They rounded to the left of the centre and followed Mahtoo to the edge of the town where a small wooden house that looked rather new stood between two old, weather beaten houses.

Mahtoo paused at the front door, which was just another of the red sheets, and flourished a hand to the entrance. "If you'd like to spend your time here, you can complete the request at your own pace. But remember, time is the essence of success." With another of his barely visible bows he left the three mages standing blankly in front of the small wooden house.

They stood outside staring at the fragile looking frames and cracking brown wood before Lucy broke the silence.

"…How much was the reward again, Natsu?"

Gray sighed and pushed past his two comrades. His body was already fatigued from both the train trip and the unbearable heat. Surprisingly, as he entered the interior of the wooden house, the air was considerable cooler. It was still uncomfortably warm, at least for an ice mage, but it was much better than the boiling heat outside.

He stood with his back to the entrance and closed his eyes breathing cooler air into the house and feeling it slowly spread making his skin tingle.

Natsu and Lucy slowly entered after him carrying their own conversation.

"…not at all what I expected." Lucy was saying.

Natsu, who was looking at the blonde mage, bumped into Gray's back, who was still in front of the door, and glared at the ice mage spitefully before realising something.

"Is it…cooler in here?"

Gray whistled as he walked around the room they had entered and disappeared into another one. The house, although appeared smaller from the outside, was fairly sized. It had one main room that the front door entered into; it was furnished with two leather brown armchairs, a small wooden bench with a fire place stove and a basin protruding from the wall. A freshly beaten rug was laid out between the two armchairs and looked like the skin of some grey animal.

Natsu advanced to one of the chairs and poked at it with his hand before confirming its comfort level and squishing his backside into it. He sighed in relaxation and folded his arms behind his head, closing his eyes. Lucy, unnoticed by the fire mage, approached him, her hands on her hips.

"Don't you think that rather than sleep all day we should fill Gray in on the mission? I'm sure he wants to know what he's supposed to be doing."

As if on cue, Gray re-entered the room and took the seat next to Natsu's and reclined lazily in the squishy armchair. Lucy merely glared at the two completely carefree mages in front of her.

Natsu grinned at her expression and punched Gray in the arm, "You're absolutely right, Lucy. Gray does want to know, don't you?"

Gray rubbed his arm, exasperated. "Just hurry it up, I'm totally beat."

Natsu's smile faltered at his usually aggressive friend's response. Naturally the latter would have jumped up and started beating the crap out of Natsu for even coming close to him. But Gray was definitely not beating him; he didn't even have the energy to argue anymore. Natsu was starting to truly think bringing him on the quest was a bad idea.

Lucy nodded, "Right, well I supposed we'll start with what the request sheet says. According to the village elder, Mahtoo, the lake that is this village's only water supply is running out. Mahtoo is certain though that it isn't a drought."

Gray looked up at Lucy, "If it isn't a drought that's causing it then what could be?"

Lucy shrugged, "I don't know. This is the first time I've heard of such a thing. The lake's water has been increasingly decreasing for the past two weeks. If we don't do something soon it will be completely barren within another week!"

Natsu frowned. "'Time is the essence of success.'"

Both Gray and Lucy looked at him perplexed. He glanced up at the two of them. "That's what old man Mahtoo said, remember. He must be referring to the lake. If we're not fast enough, all the water will dry up."

Lucy nodded grimly. This mission would be a difficult one, but many lives depended on it.

"'Time is the essence of success.'" Gray repeated to himself.

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Please review, and thanks for the great feedback. Im really enjoying writing this story, Ive got some great ideas so dont stop reading :D


	4. Chapter 4

YAY! I've finished another chapter, hope you like :D It took me longer than the others, but that means it should be better!

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The day only grew hotter as it turned to night. Gray was lying in one of the two armchairs with his eyes closed. He hid drifted off quite a few times but he couldn't really sleep, it was too hot. Natsu was sitting on a step outside the front of the house; the heat surprisingly didn't bother him much, although somehow that's not really surprising. Lucy had taken it upon herself to walk around the town and ask some of the villagers about the abnormal occurrence.

When the last of the suns light disappeared beyond the horizon Lucy made her way back to the small wooden house. It was truly night time when she spotted Natsu dozing next to the doorway. His head rested on the wooden frame and the sheet that separated in from out blew in his face.

"Natsu," she called to him softly.

She saw the fire mage stir and slowly sit up-right. When she sat down next to him he exhaled deeply and yawned, stretching his arms above his head in the process.

"Had a nice nap?" she asked sarcastically. He had refused to help her gather information earlier claiming that there was no real need to hurry, but what Mahtoo had said kept ringing through Lucy's head and somehow she knew they could slack off for long.

Natsu looked at her expectantly, "So…what did you find out?"

Now it was Lucy's turn to sigh, "Truthfully…nothing. Well, nothing we didn't already know. A few people did say, though, that there has been a strange blue light in the sky directly above the lake every night!"

"Well, that's not something we already knew," Natsu scoffed.

Lucy glared at him. "Say's you, who didn't even help."

Natsu smiled widely at her, "Come on Lucy, you know I'm better at fighting than you, as you're better at collecting information than me!"

Lucy's glared increased in ferocity. "Oh, I'm good at collecting information?"

Natsu hesitated momentarily before his smile grew even wider, if that were possible. "Yeah, you've got the right looks for it!"

Lucy's scary face disappeared instantly. Her scowl was replaced instead by a bewildered stare that seconds later lit up in joy. "Yeah, I guess I am pretty cute!"

Natsu turned his head so Lucy couldn't see his involuntary spasm of laughter that he disguised as a spluttering cough. _No one said anything about you being cute, Lucy, _he thought to himself.

They sat together looking at the stars slowly lighting up in the night sky. It was peacefully quiet, only Natsu and Lucy remained outside. As they sat watching the sky, thinking through the day's events an alarmingly bright blue sphere appeared in the sky off to the side of the village. It glistened brightly, shining beautiful light over the entire town before a thin beam of its light shot down with a loud, ear-splitting crack and landed where Lucy and Natsu assumed the lake had been.

The two mages looked at each other, Lucy saw the wild excitement in Natsu's eyes, and without even a word they both raced off in the direction of the eerie blue light.

They came to the edge of the town faster than they had expected, forgetting how small it really was. Sure enough, the light had hit the dead centre of the lake and created a whirl pool that spiralled towards the thin beam and circled slowly up it. There was no sound coming from it, only that bright, supernatural, blue light.

Lucy stared open-mouthed at the water slowly being swept upwards away from the lake. The villagers' only water source, slowly leaving them to die from water deprivation. Outraged at the thought, Lucy glanced at Natsu. His eyes had obviously observed something she hadn't for they were glaring maliciously at something past the blue light now mixed with spiralling water.

Lucy followed his line of sight and spotted what it was that was clearly out of place, a large machine with thick spiderlike legs and a heavy metal body. Lucy wandered why she hadn't seen it before, it was so obvious now.

A small blue flicker could be seen on the peak of the machine. Natsu observed that its colour was exactly the same as the large blue sphere in the sky and launched himself towards it.

Lucy, not expecting him to act so suddenly without warning, though she should be used to it by now, stumbled back in surprise of his speedy start.

"NATSU!" she shouted after him.

Natsu heard her shout but ignored it. For some reason he was enraged by what these low-life people were doing with another village's water. It was like stealing the village's life, and it made him angry!

He didn't even pause at the base of the machine but instead sunk down slightly before launching himself up with such strength that in one jump he had reached the top of the large contraption. He planted his feet firmly and the hard metal and, looking towards the small blue flicker, identified a navy cloaked figure sitting cross-legged underneath the blue flicker, holding his palms upwards keeping it alive.

The navy cloaked one seemed to sense another presence and turned just in time to receive a punch in the gut.

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Gray was asleep when Lucy and Natsu held their conversation outside and didn't even notice when Natsu had his little 'coughing fit.' The room was warm, but after he had created a cool breeze with his ice magic it had settled to a better temperature for him to fall asleep in. Unfortunately during the time of his sleep, the room had returned to being uncomfortably humid.

Gray was stirring in the slowly heating room when a loud crack split through the night breaking his slumber in an instant. He jumped out of his chair and onto his feat, however, due to the fact that he was just asleep his balance wasn't perfect and he lost his footing, slipping on the grey rug.

He landed on the floor in a heap, only just not knocking his brains out by shoving his arm awkwardly under his head. He heard something crack slightly and a sharp pain erupted in his shoulder. He flipped his body onto his back, a dull ache spread throughout his entire arm. He exhaled deeply and held his breath, squeezing his eyes shut. Already he could feel the heat sapping his well rested body of its energy and add to the fact he had a newly broken shoulder.

His head was dizzy and his chest heaved as his took in a large gulp of the warm air, which somehow didn't help as much as cold air would have. Calming down, he made to sit up but a fresh wave of nausea hit him and he let his head fall back onto the ground.

He laid there still for a few minutes before he became aware of footsteps approaching his head. Opening his eyes he looked directly into a young face that was cleanly shaven and had wide dark rings around his eyes.

Gray bolted up in alarm at his sudden appearance and instantly regretted it. His head swam in dizziness and his arm throbbed in pain that slowly spread down the right side of his back. He stumbled back a few steps before he hit the wall and leaned on it for support. His left hand clutched his right shoulder, holding it firmly as if he could reconnect the bone by forcing it together.

The young man facing him smiled, it didn't reach his eyes. _No,_ thought Gray, _it's not a kind smile at all; it's the smile of someone who has found his prey!_

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So be honest please, and tell me what you think! Hope it doesn't get too predictable :D i am trying my hardest!


	5. Chapter 5

Yeshh! another chapter finished, lets see what happens to the trio now :D

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Natsu felt the other person's stomach heave as his fist connected with it. He threw his body weight against him and sent him sprawling backwards. The blue flicker slowly faded as the navy cloaked person's hands left their position. The man snarled at Natsu.

"You!...How dare you interrupt at such a moment!" he spat at him.

Natsu regarded the man with distaste. Beneath his navy cloak he had a short beard and a square jaw. His nose was long and pointed and he had small black beady eyes.

Natsu's face scrunched up, "Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?"

When he didn't get a response he raised a fiery fist and slowly approached the man, he grabbed his collar and pulled him up to eyes level where he held his fist in front of his face. "Tell me!" was all he said to make the cloaked person whimper in fear.

"I…I'm sorry, my name is Jause, I… I only serve my master, Liegh…." Jause stuttered.

Natsu smiled evilly at him and placed his feet back on the ground properly. The latter breathed a sigh of relief, obviously thinking he had escaped a real threat, when Natsu spun around and landed a kick straight to his stomach and then grabbed his navy cloak before he flew away and planted a fist of fire in his face that had so much force behind it the cloth he was holding ripped and Jause went flying across the top of the machine and off the edge.

"Thanks a bunch, Jause!" Natsu shouted after him.

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Lucy was still standing at the other side of the lake when she saw the small blue flicker of light disappear and reasoned that Natsu must be there now.

She glanced up at the sky to where the large sphere was, hoping that it too had disappeared. Her hopes were false. The bright blue sphere was a big and menacing as ever, however, the water had stopped flowing up it; it was merely frozen in time, hanging in mid air.

Frustrated with wanting to do something but not knowing what to do Lucy decided to assist Natsu. She had only come to this decision however when a navy cloaked figure appeared before her and had a sword to her neck before she could even blink.

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Gray was cornered. His back was against the wall and some person in a dark coat was in front of him. His shoulder was broken and his whole arm and back was flaring in pain every time he moved. Even breathing was a difficult task.

"Gray Fullbuster. An Ice mage, so I'm constantly told," the mysterious person spoke. "Let me introduce myself, I am Liegh. The proud master of Black Crown Guild."

Gray gritted his teeth. A guild master was definitely not an ideal opponent; even if he was in his top physical state he wouldn't stand a chance. He tried to look calm as he faced Liegh, "So, what do you want?"

"There is something you should know about me Gray," as Liegh said this he stepped forward slowly. "I'm a very selective mage!"

With that said Liegh punched his fists together and sent a compressed ball of air shooting towards Gray who, with well honed reflexes, dashed to the side and let the dangerous attack pass him by. Although he had dodged this, something wasn't right. The wall where the air had hit broke apart and flew into the open street. Gray, who had thought he had avoided it, was pulled by his waist as though there were invisible strings attached to him and was yanked out after the wood.

He landed on the ground and rolled to his side that wasn't injured. In an instant Liegh was out of the house as well and started to advance on him.

Gray pushed himself to his feet with his left arm and turned to face the mage. He glanced around him, _where the hell is Natsu and Lucy?_

"You shouldn't take your eyes off your adversary during battle, even you, Gray, should know this."

Gray's eyes snapped back to where Liegh was approaching him but found that the dark mage was no longer there. Gray's eyes grew wide in surprise and he stepped back, looking around him for a sign of the others whereabouts.

A sharp pain seared across his left cheek as something sharp flew past him. He jumped forward and turned around to see receive a blast of strong wind front on. He threw his arms in front of his face for protection and felt more pain course through his right arm. He gritted his teeth and stood firmly. The wind grew stronger and lifted him off his feet. His body fell and flew backwards, his back grazing the ground, until his head cracked into the front of a wooden house.

Gray stayed on the ground, his body was sore and small cuts covered him from head to toe from the strong magic wind. His eyes were squeezed shut as he gasped painfully for breath. He heard a loud crack as the wall he had slammed into gave way and crumbled on top of him. Planks of wood, sharp splinters and red dirt flew around him and he felt the objects hitting him all over, pinning him to the ground. They weren't that heavy either. He could have easily lifted them off, but his body wouldn't move. Even if he tried to lift up his arm it just stayed where it was stapled to the ground by a large splinter of wood.

"Hahaha, I'm honestly surprised you're still conscious, Gray!" Liegh strode over to where the ice mage was trapped under the debris. "Even the strongest of mages I've had the pleasure of fighting haven't made it this far. You truly are the one we've been looking for!"

Gray tried to open his eyes fractionally but found that his left eyelid was heavy and sticky with hot blood. His arm was numbing but he could still feel his hand enough to scrape the dirt beneath his fingers. Through his right eye he glimpsed the wind mage smiling triumphantly before he leaned over the ice mage, and taking off one of his silky black gloves he placed his palm on Gray's brow.

Gray felt the hand make impact with his forehead and gasped as an electric current coursed through his already numbing body. His face tingled for a few seconds before he felt a deep blackness creeping over him and he realised that he couldn't hold his only good eye open any longer.

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Sorry bout the cliff hanger, hope this one didn't end that way too (i may be wrong) but i hoped you liked this one and keep reading because its still only goign to get better :D please review!


	6. Chapter 6

10 cheers for Lucy who gets the spotlight in this chapter :D

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Natsu watched in satisfaction as the tower of water ceased to flow upwards. He felt a small knot in his stomach ease in relief. He waited for the inevitable cascade of water that was to come gushing back into the decreasing lake, a few seconds passing with not the slightest change. The pillar of water had just stopped, frozen in time.

The knot in Natsu's stomach had returned, but now it was even tighter. He gulped as he saw Lucy hesitate before taking a step in his direction, on top of the large machine. Natsu was comforted that she was coming to help, even though she may not have made much of a difference, but his happy expression turned downward when he saw another of the navy cloaked men appear suddenly in front of the stellar mage and threaten her with his blade.

Natsu freaked out when he saw this. He knew Lucy was capable but not in such a life-or-death situation. He made to jump off the giant machine and run to his friend when his way was blocked by at least ten of the navy clad men.

Although he was desperate to help his needy companion he had to finish things up here first.

"Bring it!" Natsu provoked the people before him while lighting his fists with circles of fire.

* * *

Lucy froze when the silver point came flying towards her throat. With sharp reflexes, and no other options, she grabbed at her keys and, acting on impulse, she held them up to her neck and let the blade slam into one of them. Sparks flew in every direction at the impact of metal on metal.

"Who are you?" Lucy shouted at the stranger.

She heard a sly laugh before a second blade came swinging to her left, unprotected side. Lucy leaped backwards out of harm's way and skidded to a stop, she dropped her left hand down to her waist where her whip was attached. Before Lucy could detach it, however, the man had lunged at her with his two blades swinging.

Without much time to react, Lucy swung her keys up again to block the vicious point of the sword. She felt one of her keys give slightly under the impact and grinded her teeth at the alarming crack that rang through her ears.

She jumped back and ran a few more meters away to assess the damage done to her beloved keys. As she had feared one of them had a large fissure that split it right down the centre. She reluctantly identified the key as the Lion's, Leo, or most commonly known to her as Loke.

"You…you broke my key!" Lucy spoke softly but with such a heavy impact that it made her adversary's smile falter slightly.

Within seconds however, his smirk was back on his face. "So what, it's not like they'd be of any use here! Even if you defeat me, you won't be able to return the water back to the lake! It's stuck in that moment of time, frozen you could say. Until someone continues the magic it will never go back!"

Lucy's face dropped into a pout as she glanced up at the giant spiral of water that was hanging in the air. She scrunched her eyes shut for a moment just thinking, letting different solutions run through her mind, she finally selected the most practical one.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," she said confidently as a grin grew on her lips.

The man faltered again and took a step back before widening his stance and holding his swords threateningly in front of him. "I won't let you pull anything funny, girly!"

Lucy's smile widened and she reached for one of her keys before throwing it with all her might to the lake. As the key sailed through the air, Lucy turned to her opponent and ran directly towards him with no hesitation. This put him off ever so slightly, she didn't even flinch as he swung one of his blades that only just whipped above her head as she ducked and dove between his legs and safely rolled back up onto her feet only to swing around and land a kick straight into his head.

He stumbled forwards in surprise at the sudden impact that a girl had caused and swung around with his other sword only to see that she was no longer there.

Lucy was sprinting as fast as she could to the lake, she reached its edge and jumped into the remaining water and walked out, in thigh deep water, to where she only just managed to catch her key that nearly dropped into the water below.

Holding it high above her head and then thrusting it into the water she shouted out, "Open, Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius!"

A large magic ring appeared on the surface of the water before long, blue haired mermaid labelled as Aquarius appeared before her.

Aquarius turned her threatening eyes onto Lucy before growling slowly, "You, I thought I told you NEVER TO DROP MY KEY AGAIN!"

Lucy cowered back from the scary celestial spirit but regained her confidence as Aquarius wasn't inflicting any harm to her, yet. She pointed up at the big tower of water, "Aquarius, I need you to bring that water back down into this lake!"

Aquarius scoffed at her, "What? I don't even get a 'please?'" Before Lucy could amend, however, she had swept her arms up and gave her usual cry as she sent the mid-air water to come cascading back down into the lake.

Lucy, who until this point had been standing in the lake, was swept by the overpowering flow of water up onto the rough ground that surrounded the now not-nearly-so-empty lake. Aquarius, assuming her deeds were done, scoffed once more at the celestial mage before returning to the spirit world.

Lucy lay on the ground where she had landed and smiled at her achievement. She had helped a lot of people by returning that water back into the lake. As she laid there completely exhausted she missed the presence behind her that she had completely forgotten about!

* * *

Natsu pounded the last guy before he glanced back at where Lucy was, in the lake with one of her celestial spirits. He smiled to himself at Lucy's brilliance, but vowed never to let her know that he thought of her as brilliant.

He threw the person he was holding into the pile of bodies that were unconscious and clapped his hands together, signifying that he was finished. A small movement caught his attention to the right of the big machine he was still standing on and he swung around to identify it. A large figure of a man with a body hefted onto his shoulder was just entering some unseen door into the machine.

Natsu contemplated going after him before the contraption shook and started to rise and move. He was caught off guard and a sudden bout of nausea hit him and he lost his footing and fell backwards off the top of the machine and sailed through the air until his body came into contact with the ground and he felt his breath being forced out of him.

* * *

Sorry i havent updated much recently, i only just finished this chapter, hope you like, and please review it! :D


	7. Chapter 7

I hope your enjoying my story, its almost reaching its climax :D

* * *

A large shadow fell over Lucy as she lay on the ground utterly exhausted. When the light from the beam still towering from the sky was blocked from her vision she looked up to see the face of the man she had tricked staring threateningly into her own. Fear suddenly gripped her body and she couldn't move.

The man held one of his two blades high above his head and smiled triumphantly.

"LUCY!" Natsu screamed for his friend as he ran as fast as his legs would carry him towards her. The machine had begun moving fast in the opposite direction from the village and was just reaching the horizon when it wavered like a mirage before disappearing. Natsu pumped his legs faster when the blade began to swing downwards, but unfortunately he wasn't fast enough, and it was inches from Lucy's forehead when at that very moment, as the machine disappeared, the tower of light still connected to the water in the lake shrunk into a paper thin line of electric blue before sending a super hot wave of air shooting out around it. The man holding the two blades was caught off guard and without even putting a scratch on Lucy he went flying backwards in the wave of heat.

Lucy felt the hot air blowing fiercely in her face but, luckily from her position in the ground, it did not affect her so much. Natsu was also caught in the oncoming blast of air and flew back before landing on the ground and for the second time that night had the air forced out of his lungs.

When the wind died down, the heat was still as strong as ever, Lucy picked herself up off the edge of the lake and made her way to where Natsu was sitting cross-legged on the ground some fifty meters away. As she approached him he looked up at her before smiling widely, "Sorry I wasn't fast enough, Lucy."

A tear, from the fear of a brush with death, squeezed its way from behind her shut eyes and fell down her cheek to her equally large smile. She opened her eyes and let a few more tears fall down before laughing shakily, "Don't worry about it Natsu. You tried, and that makes all the difference in the world!" It means you really do care about me, Lucy thought to herself.

The two mages stayed there in silence while they let the adrenaline from the past events leave their bodies. Natsu sighed before he stood beside Lucy and threw an arm around her neck. He grinned like a young boy and said, "Well, we better get back to Gray. He'll be wondering where we are!"

* * *

Soft metallic sounds were echoing in the large, round, metal room. A round platform was in the middle with two thick iron posts towering out of it. From each post, metal chains dangled that were as thick as a grown man's wrist. There was one large double door that was at the present moment open as two armoured men made their way down the corridor outside the round room and entered. Between the two of them was a third and younger person, the upper part of his body was not clothed and he had small scratches covering him. Although he looked in a pitiful state there was clear evidence that he had been cleaned. The two men dragged the young one, who appeared to be unconscious, towards the two metal posts. Upon reaching them, they held the body upright and cuffed his wrists to the ends of the chains. When the young person's second wrist was cuffed and locked he opened his right eye and glanced up at the door that was now occupied by the man known as Liegh.

"Ah, Gray. No need to look so livid," he laughed at his own wit but stopped abruptly as Gray's face turned blank.

"Where the hell am I?" Gray said slowly as every word hurt his heat dried throat.

Liegh considered the question for a moment before answering him. "Black Crown Guild. You would know of us as a dark guild, but…then again, you might have never heard of us before."

Gray closed his eye and breathed deeply. A dark guild, he thought to himself, what the hell am I doing here, and how the hell did I get here? Where did Natsu and Lucy go? I need to get out!

"Gray," the whisper came from right beside Gray's ear and his eye opened alarmed, Liegh's hot breath tickling his neck. "You don't need to worry; I've only brought you here for a little experiment of mine," Liegh leaned back away from Gray who realised that the others in the room had not heard this statement. "I wouldn't only be worrying about yourself either…"He turned around to leave the room and was just closing the door behind him when he looked back and added, "…for all I know, even your guild may be endangered!"

* * *

Natsu and Lucy were just re-entering the town when they instantly realised something wasn't right. Yes, it was dark. Not one light was turned on. But the lights were never on at night, not recently with what's been happening. No, it was something else that had disturbed Natsu, something that made his spine shiver. There was a smell, which only he could detect, of freshly disrupted dust and dirt.

The two companions picked their way cautiously to where they were staying.

"What do you think has happened?" Lucy asked softly, curiously.

Natsu didn't reply but continued to quietly approach the street around the corner.

Lucy tried again, "Natsu, what's going on?"

Again, there was no reply from the fire mage. They had just turned the corner when both mages stopped abruptly in shock. The entire street, it was only small, was plastered in dirt and debris from the large hole in the wall of the house they were staying in. Wood, dirt, and other bits of wreckage were strewn about. Natsu, who was the first to recover from his temporary distress, ran to where the bulk of the broken wall was piled on the ground. He quickly identified the pools of blood that were swiftly drying in the heat. He carefully shifted through the piles of wood when Lucy approached behind him. "Who could have done this?" she whispered, her hands were covering her mouth and her eyes were wide open in alarm.

Natsu frowned when he spotted a disturbance in the dirt. The red soil had been obviously scratched into but what it said was hard to tell. After staring at it intently, with Lucy leaning over his back curiously looking at it as well, Natsu leaned back on his knees and growled.

"Some bastard has a lot of explaining to do!" With that said Natsu stood and turned to leave the site. Lucy glanced at him momentarily before crouching next to the ground and reading the words scratched there for herself.

'Whatever happens, save Fairy Tail!'

* * *

Oooooh, wonder whats gonna happen next :D please tell me wat you think so far, and keep reading! XD


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry about the long wait for this chapter :D but its finally out!

* * *

"Natsu WAIT!" Lucy shouted for the tenth time. But Natsu wasn't waiting; in fact he wasn't even listening. The fire mages attention was focused on retracing the path of the machine that had vacated the opposite side of the lake only less than an hour before.

Natsu was determined. He was sure now, more than he had ever been before, that the person who had entered the machine was the captor of Gray. He no longer doubted that that was the reason behind the disappearance of his friend and the hastily left behind message scratched out into the dirt. This clearly identified that something big was happening. His guild, that was miles away from here, was in danger!

Natsu picked up his speed as he reached the far side of the lake and started to track the large scuff marks in the red soil that marked where his fleeting enemies, as they had just made themselves by threatening his friends, had departed to. He gazed into the distance as he realised just how long he could be travelling for before they reached Gray. For all he knew Gray could be dead by the time they reached him. NO! He wasn't going to think like that, he isn't and won't die! After all, they wouldn't take the effort of capturing him if they were going to kill him anyway.

Now the mystery of why he was taken dawned on Natsu! What could those blue clad people honestly want with Gray? He did consider the point that Gray was a rather strong mage, not to mention he was physically in top condition, well he was until this abnormal weather set in. As it would be expected the heat affected Gray, an ice mage, the most rendering him practically useless, which led Natsu to the reason why Gray was able to be beaten.

As Natsu continued his steady run into the distance Lucy started to slow a little and was already gasping for breath. She slowed to a walk and was holding her sides that pained with every step. She was nowhere near Natsu in fitness, although she considered herself to be a fair sprinter on a short distance.

"Na-NATSU!" she gasped as she breathed deeply, trying to regain her breath. "STOP RUNNING SO FAST!"

Natsu only faintly heard Lucy but he could tell by her tone that she was not impressed. Frustrated and angry he stopped running and waited for her to slowly catch up. Every second she took seemed like hours to him. Finally when she fell in step with Natsu he threw her an irritated glare.

"We don't have time to walk Lucy! Every second we waste here Gray gets further and further away from us!" Natsu was working himself up and his cheeks burned in anger.

Lucy warily smiled at him before trying to comfort him, "It's ok Natsu, you know Gray! He's probably already escaped and on his way back now!"

"NO LUCY!" Natsu's sudden roar alarmed Lucy to the point of near tears. "It's so easy for you to say that! You don't know Gray the way I do!"

Lucy lost it at those words. As tears stung in her eyes she flung her wrist back and landed her palm in Natsu's face with a loud slap ringing after. A big red mark appeared on his cheek and reflex tears welled up in his eyes.

"You really are an IDIOT Natsu!" Lucy sobbed as she sunk to her knees on the red soil; she wasn't even hiding the fact that she was crying anymore. "Gray is just as much a friend to me as anyone! I would do anything to help him!"

Natsu just stood rooted to the spot in shock. He let one tear roll down his face before whipping his face and kneeling down beside Lucy and hesitated before wrapping an arm around her.

"I'm sorry Lucy, I know, he's apart of Fairy Tail. He's a very close companion to everyone in the guild!" Natsu tried to say comfortingly to her in a soothing voice. However, his attempts were in vain. He was still very hasty and Lucy detected how false his voice was when he said this. She scoffed at him exasperatedly before shoving his arm off and turning to head back to the town.

"Lucy?" Natsu called after her.

Lucy didn't even glance back when she replied, "If he's so much more important to you then you can save him by yourself!"

And without another word she left a fuming Natsu kneeling in the dirt staring after her.

* * *

Gray flinched as the ceiling of the machine opened to reveal a bright hot sun glaring angrily overhead. Thoughts about what the machine really was had made their way through his head but he discarded ever one of them; it was a true mystery why he was here.

His wrists stung from the cuffs slowly cutting off his circulation and digging into his forearms making small lines of blood appear. He gritted his teeth as the only door into the circular room opened and Liegh entered. Following him was seven of the blue cloaked figures who spread out around Gray evenly.

"What the hell is going on Liegh? What are you planning?" Gray called irritated. His voice wasn't as loud as it usually was due to the hot temperature drying out his throat.

Liegh considered Gray before smiling triumphantly, "You're going to be the saviour of an experiment I started that went extremely wrong. You, or more correctly a strong ice mage, were essential to fix the mistake I admit I created."

Gray scoffed, "And what was that?"

Liegh signalled to the seven men and they sat themselves cross-legged on the metal ground and began chanting. Purple veins started winding their way along the ground to the base of the two metal poles and began twirling up them and down the long chains to where Gray wrists were attached. As soon as the purple veins made contact with his skin they turned icy blue.

Gray's skin turned icy cold which, even though he was an ice mage, made him shiver. The now cold blue veins wound up his arms and left every inch of them stinging as if being stabbed by needles. Light blue threads began shooting up into the sky and pain erupted from the points of his body that were attached to the threads, making his body convulse as much as was possible in the chains.

Liegh nodded, satisfied. "A sacrifice is always necessary in order to save the world! Gray Fullbuster, your ice magic will reverse the affects of the Weather Machine that malfunctioned!"

* * *

So, I hope you liked this one and want to keep on reading... i know, its taking ages for me to finish the story but just bare with me XD please review it if you liked it!


	9. Chapter 9

It's finally out, the long awaited chapter that even i was waiting for (to come to my head) hahahaha, anyways enjoy it!

* * *

Natsu had to admit to himself, he wasn't the world's best tracker. He could clearly see where the large machine had been and was but at the present moment he couldn't see anything on the smooth surface of the dusty red earth. His mind was a complete mess. He felt so many emotions running through him; both betrayal and guilt towards Lucy who he had previously yelled at and discarded to search for Gray, and worry and fear towards Gray to which he actually blamed himself for the ice mage's current status.

Frustrated beyond belief, Natsu sank to his knees and balled his fists, crashing them into the solid ground. The air was still unforgivably hot and all Natsu could manage while deprived of water was a small tear. He pounded the ground, letting out his anger, over and over again. His throat was dry and cracked and the silent scream he sent into the air sent back into his throat the metallic taste of blood. He was bordering desperation, and the facts that he was not only lost but had no water or food were slowly pushing their way to the front of his brain. This only angered Natsu to an unbelievable fury. He punched the ground so hard his fists bled and his eyes were stinging with tears both from the loss of Gray and because of the pain from his knuckles.

On the outside he felt hopeless and the thought of giving up was ever present. He had nothing to follow and no way of finding Gray. But deep inside him he somehow knew that he could find him and so with every ounce of will power he had left he pulled himself back to his feet and stumbled forward in the direction the machine was last headed.

In the back of his mind words that Makarov had said many years back were trying to make themselves heard, but Natsu wasn't listening, he wasn't thinking, he wasn't feeling anything at the moment but the pain that only the loss of a friend causes. The only thing that he could wish was that somehow Fairy Tail could know he needed their help!

* * *

Back at Fairy Tail guild, Erza sat at the bar where Mira-Jane kept up the small chat about cakes that she had been practicing to bake for Elfman's birthday, Happy was lying next to Erza's hand with his eyes closed. A glass of cold water, basically made from melted ice was resting on the bench at Erza's other hand and her eyes lingered on it now. The hot weather was still only getting worse in Magnolia. There weren't many that were keen on going on quests and Erza was surprised that Natsu and Lucy had dragged Gray on one with them. What surprised her even more was that Natsu had left behind his constant companion and partner, Happy, who was actually content to sleep through the heat wave.

Erza lifted her glass and took a slow appreciative mouthful of the freezing cold water. As she placed the cup back down onto the bench she suddenly realised that the entire guild was silent. Happy's eyes were wide open and he was no longer lying down by Erza's hand but standing.

'Happy? What's wrong?' Mira's concerned voice echoed in the quiet guild.

Without Happy saying anything though everyone realised that something wasn't right, Erza felt as though she had to be somewhere. Something needed her.

'Natsu,' she said loudly enough for the whole guild to hear her. She glanced around at all the familiar faces of her fellow guild members and spotted Master Makarov descending from the second floor. 'Master, what is this?'

Makarov just about reached the bottom of the stairs but remained on the last step. He addressed the entire guild, 'it's Natsu.'

As soon as Makarov confirmed that it was Natsu, Happy took to the sky at once. Erza stood alarmingly fast and shouted after the blue cat but Happy didn't stop. She turned back to Makarov, 'Master, what's going on?

Makarov closed his eyes patiently as every eye in the guild fixated on his face. Inwardly he had a sense of pride mixed with worry for Natsu.

'This is an old magic, created by Mavis, the first guild master.'

Echo's filled the room as the guild members exclaimed about what type of magic it was. Erza's voice made itself more prominent among the whispers, 'Master, what is it?'

Makarov opened his eyes and slowly looked around at all the faces below him, including Erza whom he lingered on, before replying, 'An ancient spell called Fairy Call!'

* * *

Sorry it took so long for this one and sorry its so short, running low on ideas so any advice will be much welcome,

if your going to review, please review with honesty :)


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry ive taken soo long to get this chapter out, and i know it sucks but im trying!

* * *

"Mama," a little boy pulled at the hem of his mother's dress while looking up at her with a sunburnt red face and chapped lips, "I'm thirsty."

His mother leant down to ruffle her son's hair and cupped her hand around his cheek before replying, "I know sweetie, but we're in the middle of a drought."

When he didn't move but kept looking at her expectantly she sighed in resignation, kids these days just didn't understand. "You can take a small drink from the well out front," she said while waving a finger in his face, "but only one drink, we need it to last."

Refreshed with the idea of quenching his thirst, the little boy ran to the front of his house and tip toed to hang over the edge of the well, his mother stood at the door keeping a watchful eye on him.

A loud commotion turned her head down the street as what sounded like a crowd of people drew closer and closer. A muffled scream had her head whipping back to her son's direction where his feet were dangling inside the well and his hands were clinging in a death grip to the stone edge.

"What are you doing?" she screamed as she yanked the front door open and rushed to get to the well before he fell in. She was too late, in an agonisingly slow motion her son's fingers slid down the stone and straight off the edge, she screamed when his last finger left contact but her scream turned into a surprised cry when her son, who should have followed gravity and plummeted to the bottom of the well, hadn't moved an inch lower and was in fact standing on a thick metal pole that had penetrated through the brick of the well and provided a platform for him to stand on.

His mother was rooted to the spot in shock and relief, she watched as a young woman with long scarlet hair made her way quickly to the well and scooped the little boy out, planting him firmly on his feet on solid ground.

"Thank you so much, you saved my little boy! Thank you," the mother exclaimed moving protectively over her son.

"We were more than happy to help," replied the scarlet haired woman as she turned back to the street.

The little boy curiously watched from behind his mother's arms as the metal pole he was previously standing on smoothly retracted back, reforming into a hand that belong to a tall, muscular, and rather frightening in the boy's eyes, man who stood amongst a crowd of people.

One solid image stood out amongst the group, no matter how different each were, sizes, hair, gender, clothes, they all had one thing in common; a mark belonging to the guild of Magnolia: Fairy Tail.

"Fairy Tail!" the woman exclaimed loudly staring at the mark on the scarlet-head's arm. "Then you must be…" she took in a shocked breath before softly confirming it to herself, "Titania, Erza!"

Erza gave her a small smile, indicating that she was right.

The woman stepped back observing the lot of them, she frowned thoughtfully, "but then, this must be your whole guild…what's going on? Another festival?" she voiced her thought's aloud.

Makarov, the guild's master, stepped forward with determination, "I'm sorry but there will be no festival tonight," the woman blinked in confusion, "today…" Makarov continued now turning to the rest of the guild members, "we will answer the call of our brother and son!" The guild cheered as Makarov took the lead with confidence in his step. "Natsu is waiting for us!"

* * *

Lucy sat, alone, on the steps of the small wooden house that only recently Natsu, Gray and she were happily talking inside of. Everything had changed so quickly. She glanced at the wreckage to her right, the hole in the wall, the splinters of wood and the now black stains where Gray's blood had been spilt. Her eyes rested on the disturbed dirt where Gray's fingers had messily scratched.

"Gray," she whispered quietly to herself. "What do you mean 'Save Fairy Tail'?"

Lucy contemplated reasons for why Gray would say that. Did he know that something was going to happen? She sighed when she thought back on the last hour, walking in blistering hot weather alone to get back where she was now. She knew that Natsu was unstable right now; he didn't know what he was saying. She just hoped that he knew what he was getting himself into. All of a sudden Lucy started to feel regret in the back of her mind. She wish she didn't act so childish and really wished she was still with Natsu searching for Gray right now.

Lucy sighed, even though she knew she could never catch up to Natsu now, even though she had no idea which direction he even went in, she knew she had to try and help save Gray. So she pushed herself up and sucked in a deep breath before making herself follow the very footsteps back to where she left Natsu.

* * *

Right, so there you have it! question to ask for everyone who has actually read this, do you think there should be more violence or should there just be a big rescue, or should gray die? anyways, please review and tell me what you think, next chapter should be much longer so look forward to it! XD


	11. Chapter 11

Thanks for being patient, i know its taking me soo long to get these chapters out but please just bare with me...and i know also that its taking so long for this plot to develop but hey, its pretty hard to write...im trying my best, so for the time being enjoy this one :)

* * *

It was unexpected, which was probably why he didn't notice it straight away, but a cool breeze started to tingle on Natsu's body even though it was still extremely hot. When at first he just welcomed it with contentment, he suddenly realised that the air around him was slowly decreasing in heat. This had to mean something, something important. It had been burning hot for days on end now without fail, and all of sudden it's starting to cool down? No, there was no way it was a coincidence. Natsu knew it had something to do with Gray; he had to at least hope he had a lead. It was all he could do to not break down with the thought of never again seeing his long time friend. No, he couldn't think that way, he was going t see Gray again. He had too.

With that determination slowly settling in his brain he grit his teeth and pushed himself forwards in the direction of the cool breeze that was blowing through the air.

"I'll find you. I promise, Gray, I'll definitely find you!" Natsu whispered to himself weakly, his eyes stinging with unfallen tears, as he stumbled on his feet blindly heading where he hoped Gray was at that moment. He felt the first tear hitting his cheek and sliding down leaving a clear track on his dusty red skin. He blinked furiously, angry at himself for getting so emotional over the loss of Gray, especially when he was going to find him no matter what he had to do; he was absolutely going to find Gray. He looked up and wiped at his face to get rid of the fresh tears that were threatening to spill out. As he moved his hand across his eyes he noticed that only for an instant a bright metallic shine sparkled at him some distance away. He frowned at that spot for a moment. He might not be the brightest person around, but he knew something was up. That light wasn't natural.

As suddenly as he had seen the light his heart swelled with the thought of being able to find Gray. He somehow knew that's where he was, and so that is where he would go.

* * *

Happy was exhausted, actually exhaustion was an understatement. He felt utterly defeated by the blazing hot sun. He knew any moment now his magic would run out and his wings would disappear, but he had to find Natsu, and he had to find him before he became flightless.

He pushed forwards relying completely on the strong feeling of Natsu's need to guide him to his location. So far it had led Happy into a strange and unfamiliar desert; he had passed a small town earlier but somehow knew Natsu wasn't there, soon after that he had passed a large dam that was half empty of water, but he knew Natsu wasn't there either. He knew that Natsu was lost and needed his help. And as his partner it was Happy's job to find him, and he was determined on accomplishing that task. So with a strong determination Happy made himself continue flying towards where his senses knew Natsu was.

* * *

Mahtoo growled when he saw the massive hole in the wall of one of his guest houses. Actually just calling it a hole would be inaccurate, the entire front wall was missing and Mahtoo wasn't pleased in the least. The street was covered in bits of debris and a larger pile of broken wood was littered at the base of the house, to his disgust there were also small puddles of dried blood which he knew he should clean up first and foremost because of his town's policy of no violence. If any one of the townspeople had seen this before himself who knows what they would have done.

While he began to poor a limited amount of water onto the dusty road to moisten the crusty blood he heard a ruckus coming down the main street and paused guiltily at the thought of being caught by the townspeople cleaning the evidence of a bloody fight. To his relief however when he glanced behind him they were no townspeople but a large group of complete strangers. As fast as the relief had swept through it was replaced by embarrassment for his town, to be seen in this state what would they think.

'Ah, excuse me sir,' one of the ladies leading the pack of strangers stepped forward after noticing Mahtoo and addressed him, her crimson hair sweeping behind her.

Mahtoo spluttered for a moment about strangers letting themselves wonder through his town when he noticed the mark on her armour, he squinted at it to be sure before taking a step back in repulsion. 'You!' he pointed an accusing finger at her, 'you're from Fairy Tail! Look,' he gestured to the bloody mess all over the ground at the foot of the house he was standing in front of, 'look at what your stupid guild did to my town! What will people think if they see this…violence?'

Erza followed his pointing finger with her eyes and noticed the destruction with apprehension, only because it was most likely caused by either Natsu or Gray, and considering Gray didn't seem to be in his physical best back at the guild she assumed it was the work of Natsu. She bowed humbly before addressing the short man, 'I apologise for the disturbance our comrades have caused, we will pay whatever the cost would be for repairs, but may I ask if you have any idea where they might be as of now?'

Mahtoo grumbled before grudgingly replying, 'I wouldn't know, they left before the sun was up, weren't even grateful for my hospitality!'

Erza frowned, the three had already left…and did all of them need help right now, or just Natsu?

'Where did they go?'

Mahtoo scoffed while glancing at the small blue haired girl that had made her way closer to where Erza was standing, 'Not any of my business what they do.' And with that said he turned and started walking away but as an afterthought he turned back just to say, 'you better keep those kids from trouble.' Erza almost thought she saw a glimpse of a smile stretch across his lips. Whatever those three had done, they must have done something right.

* * *

Though it had only been perhaps a few short hours, to Gray it felt as though almost a whole day or more had passed. His bones felt like they were on fire as the ice blue veins spread through his body, and his arms were shivering violently against the chains. A strange tingling heat had started to spread in his chest which made the freezing threads winding up his arms even more painful. Gray's eyes were tightly closed and his breathing came in laboured gasps. The opening at the top of the machine started to waver like a mirage and you could almost see the heat focusing in the one place.

Liegh watched in quiet satisfaction, everything was going according to plan. He glanced around the room and nodded to the closet of his followers who moved his hands upwards and the other six followed suit. Small black veins started creeping from all seven of them and slowly wound their way up to Gray who at the present moment was expecting the change. When the first black thread touched his fingers he screamed in pure agony. Pain, it was the only word that could describe what he felt. And as the black threads slowly spread up his arms he felt intense heat settling on his body, and his magic started leaving him. A thin white beam stretched from both poles on either side of Gray and shot into the sky where small waves of white light radiated out from them. Gray's head fell backwards and he let his eyes open fractionally to see the bright flashes across the sky. He knew it was his magic leaving him; he didn't need Liegh to point out that fact, and he felt the hopelessness start to sink in, he was losing his magical power. As this fact sunk into his brain he started to struggle, pulling and twisting at the cuffs digging into his wrists. Screaming as blood started to pool and drip from multiple lacerations on his forearms and from the black veins that were ever consistently engulfing his body. Out of the corner of his eye Gray could see the smug smile on Liegh's face, and he felt disgraceful, a Fairy Tail mage that couldn't even save himself. He needed Natsu; he finally accepted the fact that he couldn't do anything to save himself now and knew he needed Natsu's help. With all the voice he had left Gray screamed out his name at the open ceiling, 'NATSU!'

* * *

'Natsu…!'

It was like a faint whisper in the air, repetitive and steadily coming closer. Natsu's eyes lit up when he heard it and it spurred him on to finding Gray. So Natsu ran, he pushed back his fatigue and set his eyes on where the glimmer of light he had seen earlier was. But as he ran he seemed to notice the calling of his name getting softer. He stopped, now his name ceased to echo at all.

Puzzled, Natsu stood still, partly to catch his breath and also to listen for his name which he heard once more loudly as wind whipped past his head. He stumbled back in surprise when the blue cat turned in mid-air and slammed itself into Natsu's chest.

'Happy?' Natsu's puzzled voice rang out.

Happy looked up into Natsu's face with his eyes swimming in tears, his wings had already disappeared. 'Natsu, I'm sorry,' Happy cried as his sobbed into Natsu's chest, 'I should have come with you!'

'Happy, how did you find me?'

Happy glanced back up at Natsu again this time with a big smile on his face, 'Aye, that's because we're partners!'

A ghost of a smile touched Natsu's lips but then with all seriousness he held Happy and started running forwards once more. Happy, dizzy from flying all the way so fast and now being held by a running Natsu, out of curiosity quipped up, 'Natsu, where are we going?'

Natsu gave a full smile this time, he wasn't alone. 'We're going to save Gray!'

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Thanks again for everyone whos reading this, and please dont forget to review, i need some critics lol, so anyone who reads this and has some advice, please tell me, im not scared of negative feedback too so be honest :) thank you!


	12. Chapter 12

Well, thanks everyone for all the great feedback ive been getting so far. Its been very helpful in assisting me while I write this story…

And MiyuTanemura I hope this part clears any misunderstandings I may have accidentally made in the last chapter. Haha, what can I say, rushed work gives way for clumsy mistakes :P

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With Happy hanging off Natsu's back the two of them continued forward towards where they hoped desperately to find Gray.

'Happy…?' Natsu started, the blue cat on his back moved slightly in response to his voice. 'You never really answered me before…How did you know where to find me?'

Happy put on a thoughtful face, it was quite a few moments before he finally replied, 'I don't know, I just kind of knew where you were. There was a moment in the guild where my chest was really tight and I just knew that you needed my help Natsu. So I came!' Happy finished with a smile.

Natsu smiled with him, he was grateful for the extra company, it was hard trying to find Gray on his own. Without Happy he had almost given up. 'Thanks Happy.'

Happy's ears flicked up, 'Aye!'

They continued walking slowly watching their feet and keeping the sun out of their eyes. As time went by and the unusual coolness continued to increase Natsu noticed the brightness of the sun decreasing in intensity. A dark shadow started to spread at the front of Natsu's sight and he frowned, looking up into the sky he saw dark and malicious storm clouds forming and spreading from one point in the distance.

'There!' Natsu growled. Happy glanced up to where Natsu was indicating, 'that's where we're going!'

Natsu started running faster towards the origin of the storm clouds, the atmosphere around them was changing alarmingly, the temperature, which was to this point of time slowly decreasing, began to plummet down and the air was thick with moisture.

Natsu was tired, his legs felt like they were just dead weights dragging him down, but despite that he only pushed himself to run even faster. Happy was holding tightly to Natsu's scarf as the wind picked up with his speed and felt like a gale pushing against them. This aura that hung like a thick blanket around them, the drastic change in weather, something was wrong.

Natsu was moving so fast he didn't even notice the shimmer right in front of him until he slammed into it. His body hit with such a massive impact that he bounced off and landed heavily on the ground. Happy was flung sideways and managed to activate his wings before he hit the ground like Natsu.

'What the..?' Natsu winced as he pushed himself up carefully. He wobbled as he stood and inspected the area in front of him. There was nothing there, but as he lifted his hand slowly moved it to where he had hit, his hand stopped dead. It was as though an invisible wall had been placed there.

'Natsu…what's there?' Happy spoke softly, as though everyone were trying to listen in on their conversation.

Natsu glanced back at Happy. It felt like a wall, but more than anything, Natsu was betting, or rather hoping, that it was actually the giant machine that had been stealing from Balsador's only water supply. And it was plain obvious that someone had cast an invisibility magic on it. He examined it carefully for a small moment and as Happy watched his partner, he noticed the large grin settling on Natsu's face.

'Natsu?' Happy nervously nudged his companion; he didn't know anything about what was going on as he wasn't there when the three mages started this mission. 'Natsu, what are you going to do?'

Natsu leant back and held up his fist which burst into flames, his smile turned evil, 'I'm gonna bust it up!'

* * *

A loud bang echoed from underfoot, and Liegh felt the ground give slightly. He glanced around nervously, inspecting that all was still going as planned so far. A moment later another louder bang was heard and the floor shook with it. At this disturbance Gray let out a piercing cry as the chains dug further into his wrists and large drops of blood started to fall onto the quaking floor.

Gritting his teeth in irritation Liegh barked commands at two of his men guarding the doors, who immediately turned on their heels and made for the exit. Upon reaching the way out they paused momentarily to observe what was causing the machine damage, and laughed aloud when it was just an angry teen.

'I've got this one Latt, stand back,' the taller of the two said confidently as he jumped the last few steps onto the solid ground of the desert. He smiled approvingly as the surprised teen jumped backwards when he appeared from what was an invisible mechanism. However, things didn't go as he had quite envisioned. Without even a second glance, the surprised teen recovered from his entry and threw a punch to his face, his fists wrapped in flames. The flesh ripped off his face and he felt himself flying backwards and hitting the metal behind him before blacking out.

'Jak!' Latt cried after him as he had watched his companion's body crash into the solid wall and slump onto the ground below. Motivated by his comrade's defeat, Latt turned angrily towards the young teen, his face contorted in rage. 'You're gonna regret doin that to Jak, boy!'

A small blue cat hovering besides the boys head whimpered, 'Natsu..?'

'Don't worry Happy, if this guy's even half as strong as that other one, it'll be over in a second.' Natsu smiled reassuringly at the blue cat.

Latt grinned evilly, he would have to agree that Jak wasn't a fighter; well he wasn't a strong one at least. However, he himself was a fighter, or rather a mage. 'You're gonna fight me boy?' he snorted at Natsu, 'then go ahead and try it!'

Natsu stood ready, his fists flaming, waiting for Latt to make the first move. And he did. In one second he was there and the next Natsu saw, he was gone. He stepped back in shock, glancing around to identify Latt's whereabouts. A noise to his left had him spinning around before something whacked into his face and sent him sprawling on the sand. Coughing, Natsu stood back up, a wild look in his eyes. He had never fought someone like this before, someone he couldn't see.

Spinning around, unsure of how to advance, Natsu took another blow to the face which sent him wheeling backwards a few steps before he felt another fist connect with his chest which ultimately left him winded on the ground. He gritted his teeth, his breathing laboured.

In a matter of seconds he took another punch to the stomach, however, he was more alert than before and noticed a slight change in the wind around him. Taking it to his own advantage, when he felt the wind rushing towards him from behind, he spun around and out of pure reflex grabbed out. His fist happened to close around the wrist of Latt, and with a sudden triumphant smile, Natsu hurled him with all his strength to where his other comrade was fallen.

Latt hit the wall above Jak and fell down to join him unconscious on the ground, as his body became visible again, the walls around them started to re-appear. A patchwork of nuts and bolts, securing large metal frames and sheets showed visibly against the desert ground.

'We have to go in there, don't we Natsu?' Happy pulled at Natsu's shirt.

Natsu glanced back at Happy before staring up at the large entrance before them, 'if that's where Gray is. And I hope he is.'

With that said the two of them climbed into the large arched doorway into the metal machine, where from the inside looked quite different to the outside. It was far more spacious and there were many different sized doors everywhere, with no clue at all as to where Gray would be.

As Natsu stepped lightly on the metal floor and Happy flying beside his shoulder, he experimentally tried to open the door in front of him. He pulled on the handle but nothing would move, so he pushed on the whole door, still nothing moved.

'Why isn't it opening!' he shouted at no one in particular before remembering that they weren't trying to be heard and hurriedly checked both ways of the large hallway they were in to see if anyone was present to hear them.

'Maybe it's locked,' suggested Happy helpfully, 'we should check if they're all locked.'

Natsu thoughtfully looked at the small cat, deciding if it was a good idea or not, 'I think you're right, but to save time, I'll go this way,' he said, pointing to his right, and pointing to his left, 'and you go that way. Shout out if one of them opens, yeah?'

'Aye!' Happy gleefully said as he flew off to the left side of the hall.

Natsu watched for a moment as the blue cat continued along, and nodded as he turned himself to start checking the doors on his side. At the first door, he wasn't even surprised to find it was locked. The second door opened, but it was only an empty square metal room, probably for storage or something, but clearly not in used at the moment. He continued walking to the third door in sight and as he stepped up to it and turned the handle, opening the door, he froze. On the other side of the third door were ten or twenty men, all standing there with their backs to him, perfectly in line.

At the abrupt interruption however, they all simultaneously turned and glared at Natsu, who in turn glared back before realising his fault and turned on his heel as fast as lightening to bolt back the way he had come.

'AAAAHHHH, HAPPY!' Natsu shouted as he ran back towards the direction Happy had taken. A chorus of 'wait!' and 'stop right there!' followed after him. While he could hear the men shouting and thundering behind him, something in front of him, towards where he was headed, started to rumble almost in time. With an apprehensive look towards the blue cat that just cm flying fast around the corner Natsu started to slow. As Happy started flying directly towards Natsu he saw the thirty or so men chasing him and totally was spastic.

"HAPPY! Why are so many following you! Ahh, shit!' he screamed as both him and Happy reached each other and turned to face the opposite direction ready to fight. The numbers were clearly overpowering them, even if it was Natsu. Happy glanced momentarily at Natsu, 'Natsu, what will we do?'

Just as Natsu started to even think of a plan they both heard a whooshing sound in the air and a rain of arrows started to pelt down on the men on either side of them.

'What the..!' Natsu stepped back in shock as so many of the men fell down. He turned to the source of the weapons and saw in a cloud of sand two figures emerging.

'LUCY!' Happy yelled excitedly flying straight into the blond girl's chest, hugging her.

'Thanks, Sagittarius.' Lucy smiled, as Sagittarius saluted before disappearing. She looked apologetically at Natsu who grumpily helped her into the machine. 'Thanks,' she said hurriedly and grabbed Natsu's shoulder as he started to turn away. 'Natsu, wait!'

Natsu stopped but he didn't turn around. 'I…I just wanted to say I'm sorry, for before. It was wrong of me to say such things, and I'm sorry.'

'Hmph, it doesn't really matter now, we still haven't saved Gray, so it's not like you abandoned us or anything,' Natsu really didn't want to not forgive Lucy, but at the same time, pride for having wanted to save Gray from the beginning stood in his way from forgiving her completely.

Lucy smiled, she knew it wasn't a forgiving statement, but it was more than she expected, 'Thanks, Natsu. Really.'

'It's nothing,' Natsu said softly as a small blush crept onto his face that still wasn't directed towards Lucy. 'But still, what are we going to do about all these people..?' He gestured to the men that were slowly getting over the shock of the previous attack and were assembling themselves ready to fight back.

Lucy's face turned serious, 'Natsu, you go on ahead and find Gray, Happy and I will take care of things here, somehow.'

Natsu stared at her shocked, 'there's no way just the two of you could…'

'NATSU!' Lucy interjected, 'just go! Gray's waiting for you!'

Natsu smiled, and nodded before turning and running. He had to find Gray, and as soon as possible, so he could come back and help Lucy!

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So that's that for this chapter, until the next comes out please send me reviews…anything is better than nothing, so if you have read this please, PLEASE say something, anything will be great for motivation, and I need some to help me finish this off…

Till the next chapter then :)


	13. Chapter 13

Yay!yay!yay! Another chapter finished...Natsu's spotlight too XD

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Pure pain coursed through Gray's body as the tiny black threads crept up his arms, tracing his veins. He could no longer move his wrists, the blood welling around the metal cuffs was just adding to the heat he was feeling. He didn't have the strength anymore to even move, not even his fingertips. He just stared helplessly at the open sky, watching his very own life-force leave him, all his magic.

'Nat…su,' he croaked so softly that it probably wasn't even audible. He had hoped so hard that Natsu was out there looking for him, but now that it was all about to end, he was most definitely going to die, he couldn't help but let his heart drop. He had given up, given up hoping, and given up fighting altogether. He just couldn't anymore.

He was going to die, and he finally accepted this. It hurt; he had so much more he wanted to do, so much to say. But now, when he only had a short time left, he really was desperate. But there was nothing he could do, and as he watched the sky and felt his body's strength completely leave him, real desolation sunk in. He couldn't help but let his eyes fog up with tears, and those that slowly welled over and fell silently down his cheeks, he felt shameful about those ones. He was a complete disgrace to all Fairy Tail mages. If he somehow managed to survive this how could he ever face his friends again, they would just mock him. To give up without a fight, it was shameful.

Gray squeezed his eyes shut, trying to keep back his tears. Faintly in his head he heard shouting, it was giving his already stressed mind a headache. The shouting continued, many different voices joining in the fray, and then he was sure of it, he heard his name.

'GRAY!'

His eyes snapped open; wildly he stared at the person in the entrance to the room, a dozen guards pounding up behind him and Liegh turning to him with a face full of pure anger. Gray's eyes brightened a fraction at the sight of the person standing before him.

'Natsu…' he whispered, great big tears welling in his eyes.

Natsu's initial reaction when he registered Gray's state was shock. His comrade, a person he has grown up with, was reduced to this condition. And right at this moment, in front of his very eyes, he watched as blood dripped from multiple lacerations around his wrists, and his body was covered in black veins that began to spread on his chest, outlining his dark Fairy Tail mark.

'What the hell…' the soft whisper left Natsu's lips as he took in Gray's bruised face and the half closed eyes that no longer looked alive. His sight slowly moved from his friend onto Liegh who stood slightly apart from Gray. 'WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?' he screamed at him as he used his fire to launch himself forwards towards Gray.

Gray's eyes unfocused as he saw Natsu rapidly approaching him, from the corner of his eyes he saw Liegh moving to attack Natsu, who was oblivious to the danger. Gray tried to yell out to him but all that came out was a croak. He swallowed and tried again, 'Natsu…' He saw Natsu's face hesitate at his warning tone, and with a flick of his eyes he had Natsu looking sideways in surprise just in time to receive the full force of the wind attack that Liegh had sent his way. Natsu went spiralling in a whirl of wind mixed with his own fire and smashing into the metal wall to the left of Gray.

Natsu eyes glazed over when he made impact with the wall, his head pounding and whirring in confusion. He felt his body slumping to the ground and tried to hold out his arms to stop himself from falling but found that they wouldn't move. His body hit the metal ground with a loud echoing thud.

Liegh smiled wickedly as he looked Natsu over, he glanced quickly at Gray who had fallen into a semi-conscious state and then back at Natsu, seeming to decide what he should do in this current situation.

Albeit his own dilemma, Natsu wasn't going to give Liegh the time to sort his thoughts out, with a quick recovery, he lunged forwards with both his fists alight in flames.

Liegh sidestepped Natsu's first fist and caught the second with his own hand wrapped in wind which extinguished Natsu's flames. 'I don't think so, Salamander,' he mocked as he gripped the Dragon Slayer's wrist and flung him towards the middle of the room. Natsu regained his footing and skidded to a stop, bringing himself to a standstill just before he tumbled into Gray. He growled menacingly at the dark cloaked man before him, Liegh returned a gesture of impatience with his arm, 'let's get this over with, shall we?'

'Yeah, I plan to,' Natsu threatened as he threw a flaming punch towards Liegh's face, the latter ducking smoothly before sending a wave of wind upwards blowing Natsu's fist towards the sky leaving his chest exposed and vulnerable. Natsu flinched as he felt this defencelessness, his body reflectively curling over to protect itself. Liegh had expected this and brought his knee upwards, triumphantly smiling when he felt it make contact with Natsu's face. Natsu stumbled backwards his eyes reflectively streaming from the hit to his face, blood dripping down his chin from his mouth. He spat a mixture of saliva and blood to the floor and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, moving his tongue around his mouth he could feel the jaggedness of two of his teeth that had broken under the impact of Liegh's knee.

Liegh growled when he saw that Natsu was still standing, he extended his magic until the wind was radiating from his body, sending waves of condensed air blasting outwards. The seven cloaked men seated around the very edges of the room were flung back against the walls their heads contacting the metal harshly and each of them dropped as one to the ground, out cold. Liegh didn't even seem to notice his own men falling down but kept his full attention to the small Dragon Slayer in front of him who had his own arms wrapped in front of his face, protecting it from the harsh wind.

'Now, Salamander, let us fight,' he spoke out loudly over the howling of the wind whipping around the room. He finished with a wicked smirk, 'may the fittest mage win.'

Natsu returned the grin, his entire body bursting on fire, pouring out his magic at full strength. He couldn't let this drag on for too long, Gray's body was almost fully engulfed in the black threads and the beams on white light were so intense that it hurt to look at them. He had to win this, beat Liegh and save Gray as fast as possible.

He crouched, ready to strike, as Liegh readied himself to attack. With all his strength in his legs Natsu lunged himself towards Liegh, his fiery arm swinging around for a punch, and shouting just as he felt it make impact 'let's end this!'

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OK, well that's another chapter over and done with, and sadly the story is coming to an end :'( and I'm sorry it isn't long, but this should at least satisfy all you who enjoy this until next time :) (At least I hope it does) XD anyways, hope you liked, leave a review if you did, and still leave a review even if you didn't….and tell me why? :) Thnx


	14. Chapter 14

Hey readers! thank you so much for staying with me so far, i know i may have upset a LOT of you because of my late update...and i am really, truely, VERY sorry! hope you can forgive me, i just got preocupied with other things. But despite all that, here is the next chapter! so please enjoy it till the next :)

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Exhausted and wounded, Lucy lay on her back on the cold metal, her eyes half open and blurry with perspiration. Her breathing comprised of small short puffs in-between the sobs that her current position left her in. At least five sharp spears were pointing down on her, keeping her from rising. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Happy lying on his tummy, his head pressed down. Sniffing to stifle a loud sob, Lucy coughed out, 'I'm sorry Happy, looks like this really is the end.'

In the midst of the shouting and threats Lucy heard Happy's weak reply, 'Lucy…'

The mage above Lucy shouted something she could no longer hear in the deep thumping of her heart, she knew this was the end. She and Happy were going to die, and why did it end this way? Everything they worked for, to save Gray, everything was a waste. And Lucy blamed herself for it all, for letting it end this way. For leaving Natsu on his own to look for their lost friend, and abandoning him for the sake of her own pride, where in the end she cast it aside to 'save the day.' So much for being a hero, she thought wryly to herself. The first spear touched her throat softly and she whimpered under the silent threat that it held. She felt the cold metal dig into her soft flesh and the hot droplet of blood that oozed down her throat. She tightly screwed her eyes shut as the point dug in further to her skin, making it harder to breath and excruciatingly painful. Why could she just die quickly, let it all end rather than dragging it out and causing so much pain.

Silent tears were falling down her temples and mixing with her sweat. She held her breath and waited, for what seemed like ages, for the final thrust to end it. The seconds painfully slid by without the finishing blow and Lucy frowned in her pain and frustration. Warily she peeked an eye open at the mage above her and her confusion doubled when she saw his attention off in the distance and her presence temporarily forgotten.

Lucy blinked harshly as a strong breeze sent warm dusty air into her eyes. Somewhere in the back of her mind she considered why the air was strangely cooling, and linking it to the capture of Gray she unconsciously began to agonize over her lost friend. In the foreground of her mind a sudden dawning settled and she whipped her head to the direction of the warm, almost embracing, wind only to stare eye to eye with Makarov.

The atmosphere dropped by several degrees, not because of Gray but because of the icy stare the Master of Fairy Tail was piercing the Black Crown guild members with. Lucy felt the metal hot with her blood lifting from her throat and she waited for the briefest of moments, to be certain she wasn't in a life threatening position any longer, before scrambling to her feet and rushing herself to the back wall. She pressed her body firmly against the metal, afraid that her legs would give out on her if she didn't have the support. A small smile twisted her lips as the guild members each stood forward to counter the threat that was placed on her.

The apparent leader of the band of Black Crown guild members stood forward at the edge of the metal opening and addressed his fellow mages, 'what are you all standing there for? Huh?' He gestured with his arms to galvanise them into action. 'Attack them!' he called exasperatedly.

At the order from their leader the mages brandished their weapons and magic and in a big swarm they jumped down from the machine and rushed at the awaiting member of Fairy Tail.

Lucy watched in awe at her unfazed master and fellow guild members as the band of mages rushed them, and when the first man swung his magically enlarged club towards Erza's upper left arm she cringed as the red head's sword appeared in an instant in her waiting palm and dropped her foe without the slightest hesitation.

Seeing the first man fall enraged the Black Crown mages and only managed to compel them to storm their enemy in the most undignified manner. Swords, sand and debris were whirled around their heads as the fighting commenced and a heated battle began as Makarov carefully dislodged himself from the fray and calmly made his way towards the leader who was still standing in the open mouth of the machine.

As all the men, besides the leader, had run headlong into the fight, Lucy dashed to Happy's aid. He was lying on his belly with his eyes closed and letting out soft breaths. She gently nudged him with her fingers, 'Happy? Are you alive?'

She sighed in relief as a smile curved Happy's lips and he rolled onto his back and glanced up at her, 'Lucy…you look funny from this angle.'

Temporarily forgetting their situation, Lucy angrily snapped back at him, 'I do not! Insult me one more time and I'll shove a fish in your mouth!'

Happy laughed and let out one of his high pitched 'aye's. Lucy glanced back at Makarov just as he reached the Black Crown mage and entered into combat with him. Within seconds though, the master had the poor man pinned against the metal wall Lucy was pressed against only moments ago with a sharp sword holding him in place by his black collar. Seeing Lucy watching from the sidelines Makarov sent her a quick one of his goofy smiles and asked her if she was ok. After receiving an affirmative he turned his attention back to the trapped man and piercing him with a death glare he asked with a dangerously low voice, 'What have you done with my children? Where are Natsu and Gray?'

Lucy's heart swelled every time she heard the master talk about the guild members as his children and at the passion in which he wanted to save them with.

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So there it is! Once again, I'm sorry it took me so long to update, im hoping it won't take anywhere near as long for the next. Thank you everyone who has supported me with this story so far, its because of great people like you that I'm still writing ;) please leave a review! Tell me what you think,

Afterthought:... I need some more ideas! How should Fairy Tail save Gray? Honestly, I thought I knew how I was gonna finish this thing but lately I have had too many different scenarios flying through my head I can't pick one, so please tell me what you think!


	15. Chapter 15

Wow...It really has been a long time since i updated this story.. I'm extremely soooo sorry that I've made all of you wait this long to find out what happens next~ And i know i seem to be dragging the ending on a little too much, but dont worry, I promise I WILL FINISH THIS STORY! hehe, so please forgive me for the late update and keep reading ^_^

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Natsu's enraged and emotion filled shout became the loudest noise in the hollowed room. Strings of fire mixed in with the wind were spiralling above Liegh's poised stance. Their fists were interlocked, neither showing signs of giving in to the others powerful strength and neither being able to summon forward enough force to give the other one last finishing blow. Liegh growled menacingly and a heavier curtain of wind pushed out from his body making Natsu falter only slightly which gave Liegh the opening he was looking for to break his fist free of the latter's hold and bring it in to connect with Natsu's face, sending him back a few paces and down on one knee from the impact. Natsu coughed into the back of his hand and swiped his mouth, smearing a trail of blood across his cheek.

'Times almost up, Salamander!' Liegh wickedly laughed at Natsu's frowning face and pointed to Gray who was by now fully unconscious with those black threads completely engulfing his body, straining upwards against the chains and a wide circle of purple light was cascading upwards around him. Slow tendrils of purple ice had started to creep up his legs and Natsu noticed that the poles on either side of him were already encased in the shiny purple ice. 'What are you going to do?' Liegh questioningly taunted the fire-mage.

'Dammit,' Natsu growled and launched himself towards Gray. Liegh could easily foresee this plan in Natsu's eyes and met him halfway there with another punch to the face, only this time it sent him stumbling onto the ground in front of Gray. Liegh frowned as Natsu hopefully began to reach out towards his comrade and in a low warning voice said, 'I wouldn't do that if I were you.'

'I don't give a damn what you would or wouldn't do!' Natsu yelled back at him. Just as his hand reached into the ring of purple light it glowed brightly and the purple ice started to freeze the tips of his fingers. Natsu yelped and pulled back in alarm. From only a moment of exposure to the light his fingertips were already frozen thick in the purple ice that was now at Gray's knees. He had no idea whether or not the ice was harming him, but instincts urged him to get rid of it before it completely covered Gray's frail looking body.

'Isn't it marvellous?' Through his numbing anger Natsu noted Leigh talking behind him, however all his attention was currently focused on the wretched sight before him. Never before had he seen Gray so lifeless. It scared him to his core and he could feel his hands trembling in rage. He could faintly hear Leigh continue to marvel at his feat, 'I had been searching for so long for someone strong enough to withstand the side effects. I'm rather impressed Gray has made it even this far, but I suppose he doesn't have much long left now. Pity really, we were so close too.'

Breathing heavily Natsu turned back to face Leigh and glared so hard at him he could have melted right then and there. He clenched his fists and rings of fire licked up his arms. 'Release him!'

For a small instant Leigh's composure faltered and he took a step back. Within seconds he regained his ethereal poise and laughed at Natsu's sincerity. 'Why do you think I would do that? After all this time, all the research, the sweat and blood to build this,' he gestured around him at the large expanse of metal that curved up into a massive dome, 'and the years of waiting for this…this boy to finally grow up and obtain the strength I needed from him.'

'What the hell do you mean waiting for him?' Natsu shouted as he gritted his teeth. 'I thought you just happened to find Gray?'

Liegh folded his hands behind his back and began circling Natsu as he explained, 'I knew about Gray since the day he became Ur's apprentice. I watched him grow in strength, knowing one day he would be the one, the one I could use. But I suppose I also must thank you…for stopping the fool from killing himself on Galuna Island. My dreams were so close to slipping away that night,' Liegh sighed as he turned to face Gray.

With a low growl Natsu used his Fire Dragons Claw to propel himself towards Liegh and targeted various fire powered kicks which forced the elder man to stumble in his defence. As Natsu's attack strengthened in ferocity Liegh began to feel overpowered despite the still many strong surges of wind he sent the young fire mages way.

Looking into Natsu's eyes he was stunned momentarily as he saw the determination surging through the younger male. He felt a sudden swell of nerves in the pit of his stomach as he realised that very little would be able to stop the Salamander now from saving Gray. As though Natsu could see the worry in Liegh's eyes even for the small instant it was there he doubled his efforts and sent punch after punch of fiery fists towards his opponent, gaining in confidence.

Threatened at the fleeting feeling of possibly losing everything he had been working so long to achieve Liegh panicked.

An ear-splitting scream filled the expanse of the metal dome and Natsu faltered as he looked up at his opponent. A look of pure anguish and hatred filled Liegh's face as he glared at Natsu, screaming curses and sending ferocious winds blasting from every part of him. The wind was so strong that Natsu felt himself slipping and small razor sharp cuts began to appear over his body and he couldn't even look at Liegh anymore because his eyes were stinging.

Listening to the scream of rage Natsu noted as it turned into a pained scream and risked a quick glance up at Liegh. His eyes widened as he saw the man before him who only a few moments ago was attacking him was now going berserk. His own magic was beginning to harm his body. Blood was dripping off his finger tips and slowly soaking his pant legs. His face was upturned and scratches were marking his skin, staining ever bit of exposed flesh with red.

'You can't have him…' Natsu could only just make out the desperate pleas from Liegh's mouth that soon turned into screams. 'I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HIM!'

The wind, that was whipping about around the entire room, closed in on Liegh's body as he stepped through the barrier of purple ice that was slowly enveloping Gray's body. Natsu was amazed at how the circle of light didn't seem to effect the elder man as the wind appeared to be creating a boundary between the freezing qualities of the ice and his own body.

Liegh wrapped his muscular arms around Gray's bare torso while he continued to repeat, 'he's mine. I won't let you take him!'

The magic streaming off the wind around Liegh began to fuel the magic of the purple ice and its growth accelerated, covering Gray's body at a faster rate. Although he appeared completely unconscious his mouth opened and painful screams emitted from him.

Natsu watched in horror as his friend was slowly being engulfed and there was no way he could get any closer, not only because of the ice but now he was literally in Liegh's hands. In desperation Natsu began to scream out his name.

* * *

Gray's body felt like it was on fire. A strong burning sensation was crawling up his legs, freezing his bones yet scorching his skin. He was so tired. But even though his brain couldn't even cooperate due to the pain in his body he couldn't sleep. Every moment he felt that falling sensation of sleep taking over him he was wrenched back by the intense pain that engulfed him.

Time seemed to be dragging on and nothing was happening; only the fire was spreading slowly up his body. It was so unbearable; if he could've been he would be screaming in pain. As it was, he felt he had no control over his body. He couldn't open his eyes, let alone open his mouth to let out a sound.

A tight grip began to secure around his chest and made him feel like suffocating. His mind was buzzing and continuous screams were filling his ears, though he had no idea what was being said. He tried to force his eyes to open but he just felt so drained. Suddenly the fiery sensation began to build up even faster. It was so intense that finally this time when he opened his mouth he could distinguish his own screams filling the air along with the ones he realised were coming from directly behind him.

Just as he began to realise that this was it, he was going to die this time, a new scream entered his ears. This voice was different though. It wasn't in pain or anguish. It almost sounded hopeful, or rather desperate in a good way. It was a comforting voice, Gray decided. And it was screaming his name.

'GRAY!'

* * *

Till next time: thank you for supporting me so far :) and thank you all for the brilliant ideas for an ending, they have been helping me so much in finishing this off! I'll try my hardest to update more frequently~


	16. Chapter 16

HEYY! Its been a while, i understand~ and some of you are a bit...aggravated that i havent updated recently...and believe me, i totally understand! haha, but ive been busy so i hope you'll forgive me this time ^.^ i would appreciate it~

Anyway!..i left it a bit abruptly last time didnt i? :/ well, i hope this one makes up for it! please read, and please enjoy :) xxx

* * *

Despite how weak he felt Gray's eyes flew open as the third voice rang through his ears. What he saw in front of him made his heart swell and if he wasn't in his current predicament he probably would have actually cracked a smile. Natsu, the very same Natsu whom he always fought with, was on his knees only a few metres away from him with glossy eyes staring in desperation, and deep in his eyes Gray could see the brotherly love surfacing that they shared for each other. Random thoughts flew through Gray's mind as his brain registered that this might be his last few moments. He thought about how much he really cherished and cared for his guild, for Fairy Tail, and that after everything they had been through that he would never want to see his friends in pain. That's how desperate Gray was when the next thought surfaced in his state of confusing thoughts.

When Natsu realised that Gray was conscious he suddenly felt a surge of energy flowing through his veins and even under the pressure of strong winds blowing through the room he forced his weak legs to lift himself up. While squinting his eyes against the sharp wind and throwing an arm up to block as much as he could from his face he tried to gain some ground on Gray. As one foot slowly moved in front of the other Natsu froze when he heard words he didn't believe and wouldn't.

'..Run…'

Natsu's head snapped up to stare at Gray's face and see his lips moving and the words being shouted at him. In a bout of confusion he stared in shock as an unexpected burst of white light shot out from all around Gray, not only throwing Liegh off his back and breaking the ice all over him, but also sending a cascade of icy crystals falling from the sky. It hit Natsu abruptly what Gray was doing. The weather machine was going berserk, and Gray was helping it.

'NO! Gray!'

At his desperate scream Gray spared him one more glance and even managed a weak twitch of his lips in an upward curl that hinted a smile before everything around him stopped so abruptly and everything became deathly silent before an enormous explosion emitted from Gray.

* * *

'Master,' Erza murmured. She stood to the front of the mob of Fairy Tail members with Lucy and Happy worriedly hovering beside her. Makarov was standing alone several feet in front of them all, staring wordlessly at the giant metal contraption they had exit only moments ago as it started to tremble as though an earthquake was occurring inside it. In the distance, far behind the group of oblivious mages, a lone figure watched the events take place.

Lucy glanced anxiously between Erza and Makarov, waiting for either one of them to break the silence. Seconds were slipping by and the machine was rumbling dangerously without any indication as to what was actually happening. Lucy closed her eyes to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall at the thought of losing two of her best friends. She balled her fists and with a determination that could rival Natsu's she stepped forward to meet Makarov, 'Master! Natsu and Gray are still inside. There has to be something we can do!'

Lucy's words echoed in the guild masters head. He stared blankly at the machine and although no thoughts of how he could actually stop it came to mind, he decided Lucy was right. 'Lucy, I think you're right. Let's go Fairy Tail! Let's go rescue those two fools!'

An eruption of cheers and agreement sounded behind the trio that was Makarov, Erza and Lucy who led the guild back towards the entrance of the machine. Happy was well ahead of the mob and with a loud sob he flew headlong into the machine and followed the sound of Natsu's voice he could hear echoing through the machine as loud as the wind howling around.

'NATSU!' Happy yelled as he flew his hardest towards his partner. As he rounded one last corner he felt himself being torn from the air and flown into the wall behind him where his wing magic ran out and disappeared, however the wind was so strong he was pinned against the wall without falling. Mere seconds away, Makarov, Lucy and Erza came running around to meet the same strong wind that had caught Happy and were pushed back, throwing their arms up to shield their faces. Makarov was the first to realise the situation in front of them and his eyes widened as he saw Gray suspended in mid-air surrounded by a bright white light that Makarov had never seen before but held so much magical power it was fearful, and only a short distance from Gray was Natsu. Makarov grimaced at Natsu's back as he heard the fire mage's desperate cry out, 'NO! Gray!'

The guild master only had a moment to call out to Natsu before the world around them seemed to stand as still as stone for a split second before everything flew back towards Gray as the biggest of explosions erupted from the ground directly beneath him.

The next few moments all appeared to happen in slow motion. The slower guild members were just rounding the corner as Makarov was screaming for Natsu who was within direct range of the explosion. Lucy flung her arms in front of her face as the brightness of the white light blinded her, Erza stood stunned and didn't even begin to reequip her armour which could have protected them all and Happy took the time lapse in the wind to use his wings once more and started flying towards Natsu who was trying to reach Gray.

The next thing Natsu knew he was flung backwards through the air as within milliseconds of each other a giant ice shield sprung from the metal ground in front of him and the explosion truly set off sending the other side of the shield blasting in all directions and out into the desert behind where Gray was. The entire guild was stunned as they were all unaffected by the explosion while the destruction on the other side of the shield was immense.

As the debris slowly began to settle and the ice shield cracked in half before gradually breaking down into large clumps of ice, Lucy glances towards the sky which had turned a misty gray colour and a fresh sheet of rain began to pour down.

Erza held her hands out to cup the falling rain, 'The weather machine…it's destroyed then?'

Makarov frowned sadly at Natsu who was staring with a blank expression into the destruction before him, looking for but not seeing the ice mage who had sacrificed his life to save his guild.

Lucy stepped forward, past Erza who was watching Natsu along with the rest of the guild, and looked past Natsu, searching with her eyes for the ice mage. 'Gray?' she whispered with the smallest of voices.

At the sound of Gray's name Natsu choked on a dry sob before he frantically pushed his way through and over the clumps of broken ice that had stood as a shield. Makarov watched as Natsu started punching broken metal from the machine and throwing pieces around while looking for their lost mage, all the while screaming his name with a blazing look in his eyes. As the guild watched in shock at Natsu's decline they too began to tear up and hold each other for support, not believing that Gray was gone.

Lucy cried out to the fire mage, 'Natsu! Stop, he's not…he's no longer…' she couldn't finish the sentence before a loud sob forced its way through her and she fell onto her knees begging Natsu to just stop in an incomprehensible voice as she cried.

'NO! Never!' Natsu screamed in protest at Lucy's words as he pushed a large plate of metal away from him, 'I will never stop looking for him! HE ISN'T DEAD!'

The last word struck Erza like a blow to the head. She had been staring at where she had last seen Gray before the explosion, eyes wide and not believing that he was gone. Natsu's voice seemed to finally confirm it to her and she couldn't watch him tear hiself up trying to search for Gray. 'Natsu,' she called down to him. At the sound of Erza's voice Natsu did flinch and stop still, staring down at the metal debris he was standing on.

Makarov turned back towards his guild members and with a heavy heart he declared, 'There's nothing more here. Let's head back to the town.' As no one started to move he closed his eyes, not letting the teary faces get to him, 'Let's move! Go!'

At their masters words the group of Fairy Tail mages began to file back through the machine towards the entrance. Makarov, who was following up behind the group turned at the last minute to Erza and Lucy who were watching Natsu with worried eyes. 'Take care of him,' Makarov sighed before leaving with the rest of the guild.

Happy, who had landed a foot from Erza, was already teary as he watched his partner a few feet below and away from him start to cry. At his height Happy could see the few tears that fell from Natsu's eyes, however, Lucy and Erza were oblivious to it, they couldn't see Natsu's face.

'Natsu, come here,' Erza softly said and held out a hand towards the fire mage.

Natsu brought his arm up to quickly swipe at the few tears that had stained his cheeks before turning with a frown to the two female mages waiting for him up in what was left of the chamber. As he began to make his way towards them he stumbled on a clump of ice that had fallen down as the shield was breaking. A glint of bright silver caught his attention as he fell slightly forward and he glanced to his left to see a silver chain snagged on a shard of metal; a silver chain with a cross on it. 'Gray,' Natsu whispered to himself and he desperately moved towards it and snatched it up in his hand.

'Natsu?' Lucy called down to him with a question in her voice.

Natsu jumped up the last two steps to where Lucy, Erza and Happy were waiting for him and at the question in Lucy's eyes Natsu held out his palm with the cross sitting in the middle and the chain dangling from his hand. Happy climbed up onto Natsu's head and stared down at the chain along with the three mages.

'It's Gray's,' Erza murmured as the four of them stared at the cross in Natsu's palm. She glanced at Natsu's face before returning her eyes to the chain. 'You know, he would've been happy in that last moment. Right?'

Natsu tore his eyes away from the chain that was normally ever-present around Gray's neck and looked towards the sky as misty rain drizzled down to them. He closed his eyes and let the rain soak his face, mixing with and disguising his tears. 'Yeah,' he choked as his voice momentarily got stuck in his throat. '…Knowing that his final use of magic was for us; to save Fairy Tail.'

* * *

Okay! So this is the OFFICIAL LAST CHAPTER! NOOOOOOOO! hahaha, but dont worry, there will be a kind of epilogue next time~ so look forward to that! and dont worry, im going on a holiday for a week in 2 days, but i'll use that time to write it and ill have it up as soon as i get back ;) AH! btw, for everyone who has enjoyed reading Fair Weather, please respond with whether or not i should write a sequal of some sort? i have a few thoughts about one but tell me what you think? should i leave it with an epilogue or go the whole way and write another story? :D

Well, thanks HEAPS for reading my dear friends! and all your reviews make me soo happy :) thank you!


	17. Chapter 17: Epilogue

Hello again everyone! So here it is, the final piece of my story "Fair Weather"! As it is an epilogue i know it is rather short, but hopefully this just sums up the story and leaves it ready for me to continue into another one ;)

* * *

'A dark guild?' the village elder of Balsador questioned the master of Fairy Tail with a voice that clearly held a disbelieving tone. 'What is that? I've never heard of such a thing before.'

Makarov sighed. The elderly man, Mahtoo, hadn't given him even two seconds to fully reply to any of his questions. He peaked a quizzical eye at the village chief and deciding the question was one he truly didn't know the answer to he began, 'You've heard of a guild, right? Well a dark guild is…'

'Of course I've heard of guilds! Ha ha ha,' Mahtoo wheezed a loud cackle. 'You think I would've sent that request if I didn't know about guilds? Honestly! So I suppose then a dark guild is just a normal one turned bad. Hmm…'

Makarov's eyebrow twitched and he breathed deeply so as to not get too aggravated with the old man.

Upon completing the request, originally accepted by Natsu, Lucy and Gray, Makarov respectfully turned down the payment offered as the request was unintentionally fulfilled and would slight the name of Fairy Tail.

Makarov helplessly looked towards his guild members as they huddled in groups, seeking comfort from each other at the loss of one of their own. One particular group of mages were slumped in sorrow on the doorstep to the hut they had occupied on the day they arrived in Balsador.

Lucy sat on the bottom step with her knees drawn in to her chest letting out loud sobs as Happy clung to her arm trying to comfort her while large tears were sliding down his own cheeks. Erza sat towards the gaping hole in the wooden wall of the hut, where Gray had been captured. Most of the debris had been cleared since the incident; however, Erza could still make out the disturbed dirt and dried blood left by her comrade. She sat leaning against the wall in silence, watching the ground as if waiting for her friend to reappear from the dust.

The worst sight by far was the fire mage whose figure could only just be made out from the inside of the darkened hut. His crouched body faced the broken wall and his slumped shoulders showed signs of defeat. The most shocking part was not his lack of reaction but his eyes. His once fiery and alive eyes were smouldered down to a blank and shadowy hollow.

Lucy's tears gradually stopped and she sniffled while hugging Happy who had cried himself to sleep on her lap. She glanced up at the sky and watched to soft grey clouds drift past. They reminded her of Gray, and she found herself getting teary again without control.

Makarov shook his head sadly before straightening his shoulders. 'Come on you lazy bunch of kids! Let's get back to Magnolia. We've done all that we can here.'

The guild members gradually started to stand and follow Makarov. Erza moved next to Lucy who simple sat staring after their guild master. 'Come one Lucy, Master is right. There's no more reason for us to be here.'

Lucy blinked up at Erza before gently taking the hand she offered to help her up. Happy sleepily clung to her shoulder. Glancing gently behind her towards Natsu who still hadn't moved, Lucy stifled a sob and she let Erza lead her away.

Natsu waited in silence for everything to leave him. He waited for pure silence, for solitude. When he felt Lucy and Erza leaving he let out a deep breath he hadn't realised he was holding and slowly let his eyelids close. In his fist he was gripping the chain that once hung around the lost ice mages neck, the cross embedding its shape into his palm. He let every thought and every distraction leave him and in his mind he was screaming with the belief that somehow his comrade was still alive, and that if he was he would find him.

A smooth current of electricity tingled in his palm and Natsu opened his misty eyes. He glanced around his surroundings before picking himself up from his position on the floor and distantly following after his guild members. As he left the last place that held a strong and recent connection to the ice mage he couldn't stop the name from tumbling from his mouth, as though saying it would confirm his existence.

'Gray…'

* * *

So there you are! :D hope you all enjoyed it~

This is the end of this story so i have a few things i would like to say:

1. thank you to everyone who has stuck with me since the beginning of this story, you people are legends and have given me a lot of confidence in writing! xx

2. thank you to those of you who joined my story in the middle, you all gave me the motivation to continue and not give up! xx

3. thank you to the ones who have only just recently started reading, you helped me want to finish this story and see it finally complete! xx

4. thank you to future readers, you will be keeping this story alive even long after ive finished writing it! xx

So with all that said I believe this is goodbye for now and please stay alert for my new story which I'll try to have out within the next 2 weeks!

As a little taste test for my sequal:

Title: A Festival in Red

Description: Autumn is upon Fairy Tail, and while each member is celebrating their annual Fall Festival, some can't hep but mourn the recent hole that had been left in their Guild. Lucy, Natsu, Happy and Erza are thrown into a wild adventure where they discover a terrifying truth about a long lost questioin.

A/N: This story will not be a Natsu/Gray story, im sorry if any of you were waiting for that in Fair Weather, i ended up changing my mind...HOWEVER! just for all of you who wanted to read about a fluffy relationship between Natsu and Gray i shall write a special one shot just for you! ;)


	18. AN

Hi there! just letting everyone who enjoyed this story and wants to read the sequal know that i have just posted it under the Title: A Festival In Red! The main characters are Natsu and Lucy with Erza and Happy making an important appearance throughout the story as well. So when you can I would love it for you to read and review my new story...it would make this writer a very happy one and I always thrive on encouragement! Thank you xxx


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